Everybody must have noticed a file called DESKTOP.INF on some of his disks. Some of you will probably now what it does, but some of you will just as probably not know what it does or even what it is. In this article I will try to tell all I know about this file, and about the special manipulations that are possible with it. The file can be loaded into an editor or word processor that does not use WP mode and then it can be edited and saved back. If you custom desktop crashes your system, just reset it with another (normal) disk in the drive and all will be OK.

The DESKTOP.INF file is created whenever you select "SAVE DESKTOP" under the "OPTIONS" menu from the GEM desktop. We will see what is stored in a while. The ST's DESKTOP.INF file is actually very limited. The Apple Mac DESKTOP file contains a lot more information so it seems, and it is also hidden in the directory (obviously, people don't want you to mess around with it).Every time you start up your ST system, reset it, or switch between the color resolutions, the DESKTOP.INF is loaded into memory, and its parameters are used. More about that later.Let's look at a standard DESKTOP.INF file. This was created by resetting the system and immediately selecting "SAVE DESKTOP" (in Germany, this is "ARBEIT SICHERN").

This line is always activated, and the values contained in it can be changed by using the "VIEW" and "OPTIONS" pull-down menus from the GEM desktop. In the DESKTOP.INF file created on the disk of ST NEWS, you'll notice that the resolution is set to '02': Medium res is activated when color monitors are used, whereas monochrome (of course) is installed on monochrome monitors.

Note to a relatively unknown byte (mostly $FF) in the lines for TTP-, GEM-and TOS applications:According to Mr. Wilfred Kilwinger (see "Did you know that....") in his article in SAG Magazine Volume 2 Issue 5, this byte indicated that the program uses AES if $FF, and GEMDOS/TOS when $04. Not surely known, though.

Now for some practical manipulations. I will not talk about all the logical manipulations (changing the obvious first couple of lines), but I will just look at two new manipulations that have not yet been treated in any other magazines.

The first one is a way to make sure that only ONE file displayed in the directory of a disk. Is doesn't matter which other files are on the disk - they will simply not be displayed.

The trick: After each window line, you can see one '@' sign. This is the place where the name of the current (sub-)directory is placed when a window (or several windows) was opened when you SAVEd the desktop. If you give this line a program name rather than a (sub-)directory name (upper-or lowercase doesn't matter), only the program with that name is displayed! Take care not to throw away the '@', and leave a space between the name and that character. Example:

#W 00 00 04 03 43 10 00 @

becomes

#W 00 00 04 04 43 10 00 A:\ST_NEWS.PRG @

The second technique I'd like to discuss is the one that takes care that you see only a limited amount of file on the disk. For example, you can have the following modes:

- Show Folders and Programs (no other files)- Show Data files and Programs (no folders)- Show Programs (no folders and other files)The secret is hidden in the following two lines:

#F FF 04 @ *.*@ #D FF 01 @ *.*@

If you delete the first one, only folders and PRG icons will be displayed. If you delete the second, only data files and PRG icons will be displayed. And if you delete both, only PRG icons are displayed.

I almost forgot one small third manipulation. For example, it is possible to make programs executable that have different extensions that just .TOS, .TTP, .APP or .PRG. For example, if you want all files that end on .AAA to be treated as program files as well, you should add the following line:

#G 03 FF *.AAA@ @

The 'G' stands for GEM application, and thus makes the file exactly the same as any .APP or .PRG file. The 03 defines a PRG icon (you can change that as well), and the FF probably means that the program uses GEM (see note on page 12).But do not expect that you can now just rename all files to .AAA extensions! The files need to have proper executable program formats to be used correctly.

That's all for now. If you think you have found a new kind of DESKTOP.INF manipulation technique, please do not hesitate to write to me (or maybe you can even write an article about it!).

Disclaimer
The text of the articles is identical to the originals like they appeared
in old ST NEWS issues. Please take into consideration that the author(s)
was (were) a lot younger and less responsible back then. So bad jokes,
bad English, youthful arrogance, insults, bravura, over-crediting and
tastelessness should be taken with at least a grain of salt. Any contact
and/or payment information, as well as deadlines/release dates of any
kind should be regarded as outdated. Due to the fact that these pages are
not actually contained in an Atari executable here, references to scroll
texts, featured demo screens and hidden articles may also be irrelevant.